This is definitely not exactly what we want our baby nook to look like…

and I say “nook” because that’s what it will be. We live in a very nice, spacious condo – but it is loft style. So for now, we are making a baby nook. She will have a room eventually. So back to the “nook” – or, the little corner we’re creating just for her…

So, we took this picture after playing around in Pottery Barn Kids for about an hour. Our baby area will not have quite as much cream and grey as this picture. Instead, it’ll feel a little “fresher” and more minimal, with more white. But we love the softness of it. And I think we’ve decided to go with the bedding you see pictured. You can’t see it, but the dust ruffle is white and oh so frilly (which I love). We’ll also be buying the pink woven cloth basket. I don’t love the lamp; we just put it in the room to get an idea of how the pink and yellow would work. We’re thinking a traditional white, slender candlestick lamp…classic and feminine.

How’s it going in there? From the feel of things, you are stretching up a storm! In fact, you’re kicking me right now. Thanks for that. No, really! You keep me company, while I’m working on otherwise boring tasks. So keep those kicks coming. I want you to be good and strong when it’s time for you to enter the world outside.

Here’s what’s going on with me and your dad. Tonight, he is leaving for London for a work trip, and will be back in ten days. I know it’s only ten days, and he will miss us, and will be back. But I am still so sad that he is leaving! He has been taking SUCH good care of us. You will love him when you meet him. And I’m pretty sure he will adore you.

I want to tell you that you’re going to be a well-dressed little girl. I don’t know what your style preferences will be yet, but hopefully you’ll like what we’ve been picking out for you. I got you this dress for your first Christmas season. You’ll be 6 months old!

I also bought you a pink dress for Valentine’s Day, when you’re 9 months old.

Nothing set in stone, mind you. Just things I found on sale that might work.

We are really looking forward to taking good care of you and showing you all the fun life has to offer. For now, I hope you’re content inside there. It really is an honor to have you as my little sidekick!

Hi! Okay… Time – you have my permission to slow down! I was in such a hurry to get out of the first trimester, but the second trimester is fun and I’d like to stay here for a while. I have moments when I’m so excited about our little girl that I can’t wait for June 22. But more often, I feel there’s so much to do to get ready for her that we need all the time we can get.

In just one week, we’ll be at the halfway mark. This is just crazy! In celebration 20 weeks, next week I plan to have someone take a real picture of me wearing actual clothing instead of pajamas or yoga pants. For now, well, I’m 19 weeks (+1 day) and at least I managed to get a picture. 🙂

Here’s the 19-week rundown!

Baby’s size: A small cantaloupe. Can you believe that? Well, of course you can, that’s what happens to babies, they grow. But I personally cannot believe my little poppyseed is a cantaloupe. Except when I feel her kick and roll around in there; then I know she must be getting pretty big.

Weight gain: Honestly? I haven’t stepped on the scales in a while. There’s a reason for that. I’m scared the ice cream and carbs may be catching up to me. I just don’t want to know.

Symptoms: There have definitely been some emotions and some worry about becoming a mom. I’m not so worried about the mom part, that part I think would come naturally, but I am worried about the juggling part – juggling normal life stresses with being a mom… and still managing to be a calm, present mom despite the other things I have to deal with when I’d rather just be focusing on my baby… if that makes sense.

Other symptoms… a general lack of focus. A little more ADD than before.

What I miss: nothing too much. Every so often I think a stiff drink might be nice. lol. Sometimes I also think it’d be nice to leave my pants buttoned when sitting down at work.

Best moment: I had a great Sunday last week. My friend Shelley and I took a long walk around Piedmont Park in the cold, muggy weather and just chatted and chatted. From there I went straight to a coffee shop and sat all cozy and warmed up with a cappuccino and one of my favorite foods of all time – a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese. While sitting there, I wrote an article for work, which actually went smoothly. The entire time, my baby kicked and kicked, as if to keep me company.

Other good things in general – Chris has been there for me like never before. He has reached down deep inside himself and amazed me with this new patience he has for me. I test it again and again (not on purpose) and he remains patient and reassuring. He’s been so attentive and caring. I feel grateful to him all the time.

Also, today we spent our entire Saturday (again) on a mission to find the perfect crib and dresser for our baby girl. We found something, then got home only to find out it won’t work in the space we’d planned for it. So the hunt continues. However, we did figure out our bedding and color scheme. I’ll have to do a post once we get the baby’s things here and arranged. For now, I’ll just say that the baby area will be mostly white, very fresh and calm feeling, with hints of pale yellow and pale pink. I’m sure it will make more sense once you see it all come together. We’re registered (really, more like in the process of registering) on Amazon and Pottery Barn Kids, and I think that will be all we need to do as far as registering goes. Honestly, our registry is more like an inventory of things we need, for us. It just helps us see what we need to get and what we have checked off the list.

Anyway, I’m exhausted and feeling a little nauseated because I ate an entire bag of cherries, I think…? Time for bed!

Just when I start to wonder if I’m “mom” material, I begin to show the tell-tale signs of mommy-hood.

For example, my baby will not stop kicking, and I am just so proud that I want to tell the whole world – including all of my professional colleagues on Twitter and friends, family, and acquaintances on Facebook, and the guy sitting next to me in the coffee shop where I’m working. Like a true parent, I already believe that my child is showing signs of being extraordinary – that’s right, not your average kid – because she is clearly highly active since she kicks me ALL the time and she is only 18 weeks old (well, technically, 16 weeks).

I know no one else will be impressed. But like any mom, I think my kid is extra-special. 😉

Just have to say… there is nothing better than warming up in a cozy coffee shop on a cold, rainy day…after a 5-mile power walk and talk with a friend…and while writing my article, sipping my cappuccino, and eating my lunch of a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese (OMG)…I feel little kick kick kicks as my baby practices its stretching inside me.

Oh my. I just had to update this blog with our very first registering experience, which was a… learning one.

Rough Start.

We went to Buy Buy Baby (baby version of Bed Bath & Beyond). At first I was in awe – so much stuff! Then we were quickly overwhelmed as we realized that despite all the research I felt I’d done, we had no clue where to start, what brands to register for, or what we needed.

Top that off with us not being able to agree on whether or not to buy crib bumpers. It wasn’t funny at the time but naturally this is something that doesn’t take too much time passing to see the humor in.

We came home after 3 hours, having registered for a few alarmingly overpriced items we weren’t 100% sure about. I pouted for the rest of the night. I called my mom and lamented the difficulty of it all. I literally cried on the phone about not being able to find a dresser that was both cheap and well made and suited both Chris’s taste and mine.

Happy Ending.

At around midnight, I suddenly felt determined. I got on Amazon.com and created a baby registry. Then I systematically began to read reviews, compare prices, and check things off my list! Amazon made the process SO easy. Everything there is way cheaper than at Buy Buy Baby, and Amazon literally has anything you could ever want. They even ship baby registry items over $25 FREE. It will be our main registry.

We did make one exciting decision at Buy Buy Baby. After weeks and weeks of research online, with friends, and looking at strollers in person, we decided on our main stroller and car seat. And we even agreed on the colors. 🙂 We’re going with the BOB Revolution SE running stroller in black (the one in the image is actually the navy one – we got the black one with the bright red straps that match the car seat), and the Peg Perego SIP car seat in chartreuse. I’d originally thought I’d be going pink or purple with our stroller/car seat choices, but of all the brands and colors we liked these best, and I think she’ll look very cute and sporty.

Hi! It’s a stormy Saturday morning and I’m sitting in bed with my coffee and my laptop, so I thought I’d do a quick update since yesterday marked Week 18.

Meeks is sleeping in his little bed, Chris is snoozing beside me, and as usual I am the only one awake on a Saturday morning, which is fine with me. Saturday mornings are my favorite.

As soon as everyone gets up, I plan to make us healthy smoothies to go, and we’ll be headed out to shop and register for baby things…if we can brave this stormy weather. For now… an update:

Baby’s Size: An heirloom tomato. I’m assuming one of the big ones.

Weight Gain: Still at 4 lbs weight gain, for a total of 118.

Symptoms: Still gag myself with my toothbrush, still get really tired sometimes, but overall feeling good.

What I Miss: A flat belly 🙂

Best Moment: I finally felt the baby kick. Chris was out with some people from work, and I was in bed with a bowl of ice cream (of course). I don’t know if it was the sugar that did it, but when I finally laid down I felt some movement that I didn’t think was my stomach digesting or anything like that. I’d been feeling little things that could easily have been digestion over the past couple weeks, but this kicking went on for a sustained period of time right where the baby is, and was different from anything else. I could even feel a few kicks when I put my hand on my abdomen. It was a wonderful feeling that made me happier than I expected! I just laid there enjoying the kicking while I read, feeling like I was “hanging out” with my baby girl. The kicks make it so much more real. Since then, I’ve felt little moments of movement but nothing as wild as Thursday night.

Another great moment: So, last Sunday Chris went on a cleaning and organization spree. I mean, he cleaned out storage, closets, cabinets, the laundry room – he was a cleaning machine! He also cleaned out the wardrobe that stands in our bedroom. We filled it with the few baby items we have, but just opening it and seeing our baby girl’s little clothes on hangers is exciting. The problem is, now I want to fill it with more things! Let’s hope I can restrain myself and don’t get too carried away. I know the baby will outgrow everything I buy so quickly.

What I’m Looking Forward To: Decorating for a girl! As in, picking out and arranging a crib, bedding, a mobile, our rocking chair, paint, a little jewelry box, pretty storage boxes, and all those things that make up a baby girl’s room.

Other: I think I should be honest and say that along with the excitement, I also have moments of concern. Being a mom is the most important job I’ll ever have in my whole life, so I think it’s normal I have some fears. I keep reading all these stories about how hard it is and it makes me worry. I mean, there’s SO much to look forward to, but some people make it sound like it’s going to be miserable! I worry about giving up my freedom, never having sleep, never having time to myself – yes, selfish things – as well as being a great example and being everything my child needs and more. The experience seems to be different for everyone, so I will have to wait and see. For now, I will try to take a friend’s advice. She told me “Enjoy your pregnancy now. The fear will come after she’s born.” LOL.

It’s just my sister Mary has made it all seem so natural and easy. When she had Abby I never heard a complaint, she seemed to be in bliss (well, except that first summer at the beach when she spent all her time breastfeeding at the condo and in the car while the rest of us laid on the beach), and she was constantly on top of EVERYTHING and such an amazing mother. Now, with Abby being almost 3, and Nolan a newborn, I see that she has more to juggle and really appreciates babysitters and help. But she and Zach are handling it with grace and are having a blast at the same time with their precious family. I have alot to live up to!

I’ll say this – I am VERY grateful that Chris is so on top of everything, all the time. He is not the sort of man you have to ask to take out the trash. In fact, it’s the opposite, he has to gently remind me to load the dishwasher. 😀 I think I’ve got a very good partner in this adventure.

I’ve had some lyrics from a couple of songs in my head. From Coldplay’s What If... Take a breath, jump over the side

And from The Roots’s The Love of My Life… The anticipation arose, as time froze…I stared off the stage with my eyes closed, and dove…Into the deep cosmos

That is kind of how I feel about pregnancy. Throughout my life I’ve often held myself back from going for what I really wanted because of the risks, and because I couldn’t predict the exact outcome. And again and again, I told myself that next time I would strive to embrace the fear. When I first found out I was pregnant, and went on that 12-mile run, I was thinking Let’s do this. I am scared and have no idea what I’m getting myself into and there is definitely no turning back, but I am not going to let that stop me from being excited and going for it – basically, jumping off that cliff.

Well, the rain has calmed down for a second and I’m going to try to get Chris out of bed and go shopping. Thanks for listening if you made it this far. Bye for now!

Something that’s been on my mind long before I even thought about having kids is: how do people balance successful, fulfilling careers and successful, happy families?

I’m scared. I mean, when I think (or rather, don’t think?) about this topic in a vague, all-will-be-just-fine sort of way, I believe I am superwoman and somehow will manage it all just fine! But when I think about it in a more realistic way, based on my own experiences, I’m just doomed.

See, at times in my life when I was juggling aLOT – for example, training for a 70K Ironman while applying to graduate schools – I wasn’t that happy. I mean, I wasn’t miserable or anything, but I felt very overwhelmed because there were long periods of time during which my schedule was, out of necessity, very rigid and jam-packed. I didn’t enjoy this. I really thrive off staying busy, but I like that busyness to be made up of part scheduled stuff and part spontaneous stuff. When the fun stuff becomes so… scheduled… I stop enjoying it. My long training runs weren’t as fun when they had to be done between such-and-such hour, and were sandwiched between work and more work.

I like time to smell the roses… or throw open all the windows, turn on some music, and organize my sock drawer… just because I feel like it.

And I haven’t even had kids yet. How will I manage this? How will I be super career woman when all I want to do is snuggle with my baby? Or how will I be an attentive mother when I really want to bury my nose in the novel I’m working on? I haven’t even had my baby yet, and I feel confused, like my life is somewhat in limbo or something. Like something big is coming that matters way more than anything else ever will.

How do those people who manage to do it all, do it? There MUST be some trick. What is it? I demand you people give me your secrets!